What I Forgot
by SoundGeare
Summary: When Link's content existence at Lon Lon Ranch is threatened by troubling visions and warped memories, he must journey into the spiritual realm and confront the sage that started it all. Follows Until I Remember, part two of the Memorial Trilogy. Link to part one: /s/8251840/1/Until-I-Remember
1. The Whole World Disappeared

Before this gets started, I've got a few things to say. I won't be updating this as often as I did Until I Remember. Once a month should be the usual, at least until june. The reason is that I've got too many stories on my plate to start another full time one. But I didn't want to keep you waiting for six months just because I can't manage my time.

* * *

A cool breeze blew through the field, combing the tall grass and chilling the beads of sweat on Link's brow. He paused for a moment to wipe it away before returning to the task at hand.

Malon had mentioned seeing some ashweed sprouting in the field. Since ashweed was poisonous and potentially deadly for horses, it had to be removed. And since the weed had extremely tough roots and was nearly impossible to pull, the job fell to the new guy.

Link didn't mind the hard work, and he knew it hadn't been given to him out of spite. He liked the challenge. It was a breath of fresh air compared to his life a few months ago. Not that it was easy, just that he wasn't on the edge of death.

Link wrapped his hand around the thick stem and began to pull. At first the plant was stationary but as he battled with the roots, Link felt it slowly giving in. The dirt suddenly released the weed and Link lost his balance. He began to fall backwards, and was already bracing himself for the impact.

_The sky was full of fire. The clouds seemed to be nothing more than dark masses, floating across a sea of hate._

_Link slowly rose to his feet, staring around in shock and fear. The earth was barren, sprouting only dead grass and thorn bushes._

_He tried to speak out but his throat was dry and his tongue felt heavy. Link suddenly knew that someone was watching him. He spun around quickly, though his movements felt slow as if the air was syrup._

_Finally, Link's eyes rested on a figure standing off in the distance. Its back was hunched and its face was hidden. Then the figure revealed its face and Link saw a pair of eyes that glowed red with hatred and malice._

_Link tried to take a step back, wanting to escape the murderous eyes, but his body didn't listen to him. Link found himself stepping toward the silhouetted figure, advancing on the terrible thing._

_Then a voice began speaking to him, not through physical means, but inside of his mind. The voice was blurry, an indistinct buzz._

_But suddenly the voice became loud and clear, a titanic siren burning in Link's thoughts, pushing aside anything else he could think of._

"_Pain… Hate… Sorrow…" The voice blared, cutting into Link's heart and mind like a searing knife, "Fear… Darkness… Yours, forever…"_

_The words burned in Link's mind, carving a home inside of him so that they might live there forever. The sound faded away, replaced by a deep ominous laughter._

_Link felt his body begin to slip away from him, and he collapsed to the ground._

_His vision faded and he was lost._

* * *

Link woke up in his bed. At first he was confused, but then with a sense of sinking dread, he remembered.

Link jumped out of the bed and started run back outside, but Talon stopped him in the hallway.

"It happened again, didn't it?"

"Yeah, same as all the others."

Talon sighed, "Link, this is the second time this week, fifth this month."

Link averted his gaze, "It's not like I can control it, whatever it is. It just happens."

"I know, but that's part of the problem. We lost more than three hours worth of work today. Between your, episode, and me having to carry you back to the house. And Malon worrying about you the whole time. I know you don't mean to, but every time it happens…" Talon shook his head sadly, "It kills me to see her like that, and I know you don't like it neither."

"I don't, it kills me too. But I don't know what to do."

"Yeah I get it. But you know how it's been. The sales aren't what they were, and we can barely scrape together enough money to stay on our feet. I'm sorry Link, but I really can't afford the time these, visions, waste. I'll give you a few days to try and sort it out, but the next time it happens…" Talon stopped talking for a moment, and Link could see that the speech was hard for him. "I like you, I really do, and so does Malon, and Ingo too, I think."

"I get it, I know." Link said sadly, "I appreciate what you've done for me, and I'll try to get it under control."

"Yeah, I hope you can do that. I'll give you until the end of the week, that's four days. After that I'm gunna have ta' hire someone else. Sorry…"

"It's not your fault, "Link said, turning back to his room. "I guess I'll go now. See you soon, I hope."

"Yeah…" Talon said, "See ya' soon."

* * *

It didn't take long for Link to pack what he needed. He'd kept all of his old equipment together, so Link didn't have to go looking for it. As he picked up the Master Sword and strapped it onto his back for the first time in what seemed like forever, Link felt a pang of sadness well up inside of him.

He'd promise Malon that he would never leave again, but here he was. Hopefully it wouldn't be for long, though.

Link looked back on his room for what seemed like the last time. It was scarcely furnished, and undecorated. A spartan chamber.

Link left the room behind and headed for the stairs, descending them slowly. He savored each step, each creak of the wood under his feet. That room was home, and these stairs were home. This place was his home, and he might be leaving it forever.

He needed to find the cause of the visions, and he needed to stop it. But what could it be? Did he have any enemies left from his time as a hero?

With a stab of dread, Link recalled a name.

_Rauru_

The sage of light. The man who had stolen his memories and nearly gotten Malon killed. The man who had purposefully destroyed Link's mind and infected him with guilt so that he would become a puppet to be used against the dark king.

Link could imagine no one more capable of doing it. Rauru had some sort of magic, and was able to get into Link's head. It must be him.

Link left the farmhouse with a heavy stride and started to walk toward the gate, but a voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Where are you going?"

Link turned around to see Malon standing in the doorway of the barn, watching him with a sad look in her eyes.

Link sighed, "It's the visions, Talon says I'm becoming a burden. I'm going to make them stop, then I'll come back. I won't be more than a few days."

"But, I could talk to him. Don't go, I can change my dad's mind." she said, desperately searching for a way to make him stay.

"I'm sorry, but there's something else too. It's tied in with it. Some unfinished business. If I don't go now, it might come back later. I'd rather deal with it now than have it come here."

"But…" Malon muttered, her voice weak.

Link walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. Malon collapsed into his grip and they stood together for a moment.

"I'll come back." Link whispered softly in her ear. "I always did before, and I always will. I promise."

The stillness continued for a moment longer, then Link released her. Turning away, he headed for the gate and kept going. He wanted to stop and go back to her, to stay with her like he'd promised before, but Link forced his feet to keep going in a torturous march.

* * *

Link crossed the wooden drawbridge and entered the city. As he approached the heart of Castle Town, Link saw the crowds of people who were rebuilding the once desolate place.

In just a few months, the city had been cleaned up and some of the damage had been repaired. However, the broken fountain stood as a reminder of the tragedy.

Link walked past the town square and straight toward the monumental temple that had remained untouched through it all. He walked through the heavy double doors and was surprised to find a man inside.

At first the man didn't notice him, and Link simply walked toward the open chamber near the back of the temple. But before Link was able to get there, the man saw him and began to speak.

"Hey, uh, son. Don't go over there, it's dangerous."

"How's it dangerous?" Link said without stopping his progress.

"That's the entrance to the sacred realm. There's no knowing what's there. The only ones who've gone in are the dark king and the hero of time." The man said, running toward Link with the intent to block him from the entrance.

"Well I've got reason to go in again," Link said, darting around the man.

He disappeared into the chamber and was lost from sight.

* * *

Link found himself in a mystic place. There was light coming from all around, though there didn't seem to be any singular source.

As Link walked, he felt light and warm. His footsteps didn't make any sound as they clapped down on the floor. Or what should have been a floor. There was no texture to this place, just plain fluorescent light that came from every direction. Just a glow that permeated the whole world.

"What do you want?" a tired voice said from behind Link.

Turning around, Link saw Rauru standing there. He looked the same as the last time Link had seen him. At the sight, Link felt anger flare up inside of him, remembering the last time he'd seen Rauru. Remembering how the man had refused to let him help Malon.

"I want my life back." Link said roughly, "I want my memories back, back to the way they were before. And I want the visions to stop. Whatever you're doing, I want you to stop it."

"No." He said simply.

"No? Why are you trying to ruin my life? That's all you done." Link growled.

"I could give you your memories back if I wanted to, but I won't. As for the other thing, I don't know what you're talking about."

The anger burned white hot inside of Link. "I did what you wanted! Now give back what you took. Give it back and stop lying to me! I know it's you, it couldn't' be anyone else. Now just stop it, stop it all and I'll go away. I'll leave you alone and you'll never hear from me again."

Rauru was silent for a moment, then he said slowly, inquisitively, "What if I don't? What will you do then? What if you don't go away?"

It was a test, the old man was testing him. Trying to see if he would stoop to the level he had last time.

Stooping to that level, Link drew his sword and took a step forward. Ordinarily it would have appalled him to pull his sword on a passive person, but Rauru could infuriate Link like no other.

"You know what I'll do. You're trying to steal my life away, all I want is for you to stop what you're doing, and undo what you've done. That shouldn't be so hard!"

"Go ahead," Rauru said, "Do your worst. You deserve the memories you have, and I won't let you strong-arm me into changing my mind. As if you could. You caught me off guard before, you won't do that again. Leave, now. Or I'll be forced to get my own revenge for that wound. And let me assure you, my methods are quite a bit different from your own."

Stirred up by the old man's words, Link leapt toward him brandishing his sword. The blade was about to make contact when suddenly Rauru disappeared from Link's sight.

From behind him, Link heard Rauru say softly, "Too slow…"

Then the whole world disappeared and Link lost consciousness.

* * *

This doesn't seem like Majora's mask now, but it will in the next chapter.

I'll be back at the beginning of next month with another chapter. I hope you'll read that too.

1/20


	2. Everchange

Link opened bleary eyes to look at the forest around him. Trees sprawled along the edges of a worn path, climbing high into the air and forming a thick canopy that allowed no light to pass through. Leaves crackled beneath Epona's hooves, providing the only sound beside the distant chirping of unseen birds.

Looking down at Epona, Link pressed a hand against his temple, trying to suppress the stabbing headache that ailed him. With a start, Link froze mid-movement.

His hand was tiny, a child's hand.

Frantically examining the rest of his body, he saw that it matched. A child's body, but how?

Link racked his mind, trying to find an answer to the stupefying question. What had happened, how did this come to be? Link groaned in frustration and was surprised by the pitch of his voice.

A child…

Suddenly, a thought interrupted his distracted state. Less of a thought, and more of an itch.

Link realized he was looking for something, but what?

Gazing out into the seemingly endless forest, Link pondered the question. What was he looking for? He knew, deep inside his bones, that he was , in fact, searching desperately for that something.

But what?

Link absentmindedly pounded a fist on the hard leather saddle horn, earning a startled glance from the horse below.

Looking at the horse, Link realized that it too was small. Miniature, young, just like when he'd first met her at, at, that ranch.

Link felt the itch again as he poked at the hole in his memory. Something was missing, but what? What happened at the ranch, and why couldn't he remember it?

Link sighed, and urged the child sized Epona ahead. Whatever he was looking for, he wouldn't find it by dawdling out here in the middle of nowhere.

* * *

Link gazed back out into the forest, hoping vainly to see beyond the twisted greenery and find what he was searching for.

But there was nothing out there except plants and birds. Link felt alone, wandering this desolate forest with no company except the horse that carried him.

Link started to settle back into his seat, to relax and let Epona carry him along the forest trail, but to his surprise, a pair of glowing _things_ barreled toward the horse, aimed straight at its face. Link wasn't sure what to do, and was frozen in place as the pair shot up at Epona's face.

The horse jerked backward, rearing into the air and throwing Link from his place in the saddle. His stomach lurched sickeningly as he fell through the air backwards, feeling the ground approaching from below.

Time returned to full speed and Link slammed against the hard ground. The impact left him in a daze, barely aware of his own body. His vision floated, scarcely solid and flickering. Link was bordering on the edge of unconsciousness.

From somewhere far away, Link could hear something speaking, something whispering and murmuring. Its voice was somehow sinister, though Link couldn't interpret any of the words that were spoken. He tried to open his eyes but the effort was painful.

Suddenly something was touching him, rifling through his clothes, looking for something. A pair of hands gripped Link by his side and flipped him onto his face, then it began to search his backpack.

After only a few moments of that, the hands withdrew and left Link alone on the floor.

A whistle came from somewhere nearby, then a peal of hideous laughter.

That sound seemed familiar, the whistle was something he knew, something very close to him.

_Whistle_

_Laughter_

That was the ocarina, the Ocarina of Time. It had been given to him by, by, someone. But it was important, a gift.

Forcing his body into movement, Link began to climb to his feet, pulling his head up so he could get a look at whatever had taken the ocarina.

A skeletal form stood before him, an eerie colorful mask covering its face. In its hands was the ocarina. Pulling himself from the ground Link advanced on the creature, reaching for his sword with one hand. At that moment, the thing seemed to notice him for the first time.

Letting loose an spooky peal of laughter, the thing leapt away from Link, then up onto Epona's back.

"No!" Link choked out as the thing grasped the reins and urged the horse to run.

Leaping toward Epona, Link took hold of the stirrup. A deathgrip tied him to the horse, while with the other hand he struggled to raise his sword.

"My horse!" Link shouted, "My… Ocarina!"

At that moment, Link raised the sword to strike at the skeletal thief.

A sudden solid impact jarred Link and tore him from the horse's side. He was thrown across the grass, losing his grip on the sword and slipping all the way into unconsciousness.

* * *

The first sensation he encountered upon wakening was a burning pounding ache in his head. Link fought gravity and the headache while climbing to his feet, stumbling painfully for a few steps before he stopped.

Link pressed a hand against his head, hard, hoping to drive the pain out somehow. It didn't work, and only caused Link to grit his teeth and moan as a new explosion of pain surged through his skull.

Looking around the clearing, Link saw a line of horse tracks, the furrows driven deep into the soft earth.

A moment of clarity struck Link and he remembered the strange skeletal thief. Anger took hold of his mind, driving out the pain as he thought of his stolen horse and ocarina.

Breaking into a run, Link took off along the trail, breaking into hot pursuit of the thief. Link reached up and unsheathed his sword, pulling his shield out as well.

Part of him was unsure what they would be used on, he hadn't seen anything for days except the thief. But the other half of his mind burned with fury and said that he would have revenge as he took back what had been stolen from him.

Link felt surprised by the thought, immediately resorting to angry violence when there were other possible ways to handle this. But before he could begin to think it over, the tracks stopped.

Confusion, loss, and anger filled him, only to be dispersed a moment later when he saw the cavern opening, leading somewhere underground.

Bracing himself for anything that could occur, from monsters to nothing, from the three goddesses to Ganondorf, Link ran into the cave.

The darkness blinded him at first, but quickly he caught sight of a pinprick of light up ahead. Heading straight toward it, Link readied his weapon and dashed forward.

Link fell headfirst into the hole that he was too blind to avoid.

The air around him was filled with some strange sort of luminescence, glowing and humming with an energy he could never hope to understand. Odd shapes floated past him, some heading for the mouth of the tunnel, some staying perfectly still.

The fall was suddenly cut short as Link slammed into a soft, bouncy surface. It absorbed the entirety of his motion and threw him off a moment later. Then he landed on a wholly different surface, bruising his cheek as he fell face first into the stone.

"Stupid human," said a voice from up above, its words humming and wavering like echoes, "Stupid, stupid, stupid…"

Link looked up for the voice, but could find nothing. He rose to his feet, reaching for the sword that lay on the floor beside him.

"So stupid… You don't even know what you've done. Don't know that you're about to… DIE!" as the last word was spoken, Link felt a strange and agonizing pain fill his body. It burned and stung every inch of him from head to toe, mind to soul.

After a few moments it was over, but the length did not affect the intensity of the experience.

Link lay in a smoking, twitching heap.

However, in a few moments he was able to pull himself together, to pick up his broken body, lift his red-hot sword and began to look around for his enemy.

A spark of light warned Link of the next attack, and he was able to spin around and knock it back with his sword. The light reversed its course and caught something unsuspecting.

The body fell from its place in the open air and collapsed to the ground.

Link rushed over to the thing and was surprised to find a pile of ash. It was roughly shaped like a human form, except its body was twisted, deformed, and disturbing to look at.

Suddenly the ash collapsed in a hollow heap, filling the air with an acrid smelling smoke. The smoke began to burn Link's eyes, sting his lungs, and make his skin itch terribly.

Something hit Link in the back, knocking him to the ground and leaving him sprawled there like a dead man.

"I never thought you'd be so interesting, so… aggressive. Intriguing, but I can't have you trying to interrupt my plans. Weak as you are, I can't leave you free."

Link lay on the floor, gasping for breath. Then he was somewhere else, standing in the woods again. He was all alone, the only sound was that of his own labored breathing.

His lungs felt heavy, and his through burned.

A squeal like that of a dying animal filled the air, cutting through the silence like an axe. As Link looked around, her realized the surrounding trees had come alive. Their branches were arms, the twigs fingers, reaching toward him. Dark, twisted eyes were set in the trunks, set above open mouths.

Crooked teeth poked out of the dark cavities.

Link tried to back away from them, but they were all around him. When he stepped away from one, he was moving toward another. The situation seemed hopeless and…

…something grabbed his shoulder, a pincer tight grip that seemed to dig into his flesh.

Link tried to spin around to face his attacker, but the grip held him in place. Then another claw latched around his left wrist, pulling until Link thought the limb might snap.

The trees were all around him, moving in closer to grab onto him. He couldn't move, could hardly breathe in the throng of wooden bodies.

They all began to pull him in one direction, forcing him toward the largest of them all. As Link watched with horror, it opened its mouth wide, showing jagged teeth.

Link struggled to free himself, but it was in vain. He was stuck, and all he could do was watch as the open maw grew larger and larger before him.

Then he was dropped into the mouth, and the jaws shut behind him. The light winked out and he was lost.

* * *

Link woke up on the floor, all alone. It was cold and hard, made of stone.

From somewhere outside his range of vision, Link could hear running water. Somewhere off in the distance it was rushing, making a thunderous sound that echoed in the intervening space.

But closer to him, landing just inches from his face, water dripped from the ceiling. Link looked up and saw that it was a multilayered wooden lattice, and as he watched, water dripped down from between the wooden planks, falling drop by drop to the floor.

_Plink_

Link heard the drop land just beside his ear, making a heavy percussive sound that seemed to resound inside his head.

_Plonk_

That time a few sprinklets of water splashed up and against his head. For a few moments the water stayed there, but then it shifted by a miniscule degree and Link began to feel an itch growing.

Reaching an arm up to the place of the itch, Link scratched his skin and immediately knew something was wrong.

His skin was hard, solid, like thick wood.

At the thought of that, Link's breathing became constricted and he jerked out of the laying down position. Flipping over in place, Link crawled to one side of the room, advancing on a stagnate pool of water.

Thrusting his face out over the water, Link examined his reflection and gasped.

His face seemed to be carved out of wood, and his eyes glowed with a sickly yellow hue. His wooden face was sprouted out of a wooden head, attached by a wooden neck to a wooden body.

Wooden hands began to shake and tremble as fear dug its claws into him.

* * *

I know I said updates once a month, but I was struck by writing fervor. I had the whole chapter sitting in my computer and it didn't seem right to hold out on you just to keep up with what I said last time. I don't suppose it bothers any of you all that much, though. I'm not going to be shortening the deadlines on a regular basis, though, probably. We'll see, but just assume updates are about once a month.

See you in early March/late February

2/20


	3. The Hermit's Tear

Link climbed to waist height steps with difficulty. If his wooden body could produce such things, he would have been sweating by the time he reached the monolithic wooden door at the top.

Shoving his weight against one of them, Link was able to force his way past the door and into the bright outside world.

At first the light was so brilliant that he felt blinded by it, but before two minutes had passed he was able to glance around freely. He seemed to be in some type of city, which was evidenced by thick crowds of people milling about and the tall stone buildings. The buildings, every one of them, seemed to be colossal towers, though Link's better judgment told him they were no more than two stories tall.

Link looked down at his wooden body with a mixture of disgust and despair. He had to find some way to undo what had been done to him, he had to find a way to get his old self back.

He sighed, feeling a pang of dejection soak him down to his wooden heart. He started to take a step out into the throng of people, ready to begin his search for whatever had to be found, when something huge tackled him from behind.

Link felt its claws dig shallow furrows in his bark, and he could hear its heavy growl. However, before he had hit the ground, Link was preparing to jump back to his feet.

Having done just that, Link spun around to face this malicious beast, and was faced with the dirty white snout of a Scottish terrier.

"Scottish?" Link muttered to himself, "What's that?"

But he had more pressing matters at hand than wondering about imaginary places. As the terrier prepared to lunge again, Link moved deftly out of its charge. At least, he tried to move deftly. His wooden body didn't move in quite the right ways, so he immediately tripped upon attempting to maneuver.

Then the terrier was upon him again with all of its grim fury. Link struggled to keep its razor sharp teeth away from him, though even when they were separated by the full length of his arms, the dogs breath managed to sink into his mouth and nose, poisoning him.

Link shoved the dog off of him, managing to overpower both it and gravity in launching the dog far enough away to ensure his escape. Link took the chance he had made and dove between some tightly stacked crates.

For a while the dog waited for him just outside the hiding hole, so Link mirrored it, waiting patiently for the beast to leave him alone.

* * *

After several hours had passed, the dog walked away impatiently. Link waited for a few minutes to be sure the thing wasn't planning to snare him once he left the safety of the crates, but the fear proved false.

To his dismay, Link realized the sun was falling below the rooftops. Soon it would be full night and he would have an even harder time traversing the city or wherever else he might need to go.

Shaking off the disappointment, Link set out to explore the city. There must be some way to return to his normal self; otherwise he wouldn't be able to continue his search for that… _something_.

Link growled in frustration that he still couldn't remember what he was looking for, but nevertheless, he began to search to city.

Due to his abnormally small size, each street was a journey in and of itself, but after several hours of wandering, Link found himself in a brightly lit alleyway. There were people everywhere, milling around restlessly. Some were walking down the long flight of stairs that filled the alley, while others took them at a run.

Link pressed himself up against a building and tried his best to stay out of the people's way. He didn't want to get stepped on, especially not like this. He might crack in half.

"Hey," a squeaky voice said from behind him, "Do you want to give me some of your money?"

Link spun around and found himself facing a green clad man with long auburn hair that hid his eyes. Somehow the man seemed familiar to Link, though he couldn't place it. Just something about the man.

"Do I know you?" Link asked suspiciously, ready to run.

"No, well not yet, I mean, you can't just give your money to strangers," the man said speedily, each word running into the next until Link could barely understand him. "But maybe we can become friends before that, then you'll feel comfortable with letting me handle your funds. It's much safer than carrying them on your person."

"What's safer?" Link asked. There was something about this man that put him on edge, whether it was his strange speech pattern or his curiously hidden eyes.

"Why a bank, of course! You give me your rupees and I'll hold onto them for you until you need them back, of course there will be a small fee at which point considering..."

"I don't have any rupees," Link said simply.

"Then get outa the way you punk," the man growled, his suspicious manor now openly hostile, "You're blocking the view and interrupting traffic. Get on, go away!"

Link felt a hard shove between his shoulder blades and found himself thrown into the milling crowd. It was like being in a forest, with every person being easily three or four times his height. Yet somehow it lacked the homely factor of the woods, and replaced it with being utterly terrifying.

Link found himself being swept along by the tide of bodies and propelled along wherever it took him. At first he had to be careful to keep track of the stairs lest he misstep and trip, but soon enough they gave way to solid cobblestones, which in turn gave way to red bricks, which eventually became a muddy gutter.

As Link walked through the gutter muck, he felt something grab onto his shoulder and try to pull him backward. Instinctively, Link started to reach for his sword, but it wasn't there. Before he could turn to face whatever was attacking him, Link realized he was utterly helpless.

Link turned and ran, trying desperately to weave his way through the crowd and escape his pursuer.

The ground disappeared beneath Link's feet and he slipped down into the gutter and into a dank place below. The last thing he remembered was landing with a _clonk_ against mossy grey blocks and then his mind was blank.

* * *

When Link woke up, his whole body was cold and damp. He tried to move but found himself floundering in a pool of grey water. As he tried to escape, Link found that his limbs weren't working quite right. They felt numb and swollen, and distant as if he were operating a puppet's arms instead of his own.

Finally he was able to drag his sodden body out of the pool and Link lay on the dank stones to catch his breath.

"Okay," Link murmured to himself, trying to work out an idea of where he was, "this place is wet and dark, there's water, lots of water."

Link looked around, trying to examine the place more thoroughly. A long dark hallway all made of grey stones, most covered in some sort of moss or lichen. In the distance Link could see some bats roosting underneath obviously rotten rafters. As he listened, Link heard the distant skittering of mice or rats moving across the cold stone floor.

In the distance, Link could see a single burning torch affixed to the wall just beside a winding staircase that led upward.

The only source of light beside that was the inexplicable luminance filtering down from an odd slit in the sky. Link headed toward the torch, hoping that the stairs either led to a way out or to someone who knew.

As Link walked his feet clicked on the stone and the sound echoed far ahead of him, becoming warped and distorted so that it sounded monstrous in the distance. Link crossed his arms and rubbed his elbows, suddenly becoming all too aware of the cold air. It was freezing, as if the sun had never touched this place.

After a few minutes he reached the stairs and began to climb them. Each step was built for the leg span of a human adult, so Link was forced to climb up each individual step. It was exhausting and time consuming, but eventually Link climbed the last step and found himself in a circular room.

The ceiling was easily thirty feet tall, but the size of the room was dwarfed by the immense telescope that stood in the center. At its largest end the telescope was easily five feet across and too far around for a full sized man to wrap his arms around.

Standing near the smaller end, leaning over to peer into the tiny lens, was an old wizened looking man. He wore a navy blue robe that had various astronomical symbols stitched into it, and a hat that resembled Link's own save for its color that matched the robe.

"Uh, hello…" Link said softly and was surprised when it came out as a frightened squeak.

The man unbent himself and turned slowly to face Link. His face was set deeply with wrinkles and his teeth seemed to be habitually unkempt, but Link saw something in the man's eyes that suggested kindness and understanding.

Link trusted the man immediately, though he knew not why.

"Oh, hello there. I didn't hear you come in," the man said in a grandfatherly voice, "Are you a friend to the Bomber kids?"

Link had no clue who the _Bomber kids_ were, but he nodded his head.

"Ahh," the man said, nodding his head slowly, "so you're a new recruit. Would you like to take a look through my telescope?"

"No, I, uh…" but the man was already hustling him over toward the lens. Link pressed one eye against it and closed the other. The telescope magnified his vision considerably, allowing him to see miniscule details that he would have had difficulty seeing up close.

"Just hold still," the man said, "I'll adjust it so you can get a look at the moon, that's what all the other boys always want to see. It's been very… odd lately, to say the least. Why don't you see for yourself."

As Link observed, the subject of the telescope shifted and he found himself staring at the moon which hovered impossibly close to a building. As he looked over the moon's surface, he realized he could see a design or some kind of emblem.

_A face?_

"What? That's… what is that?" Link asked, deeply confused by what he had seen.

"I don't know for certain, no one does, but I have a theory if you'd like to hear it. It's not very scientific I know, but it's my guess. I think there might be a sorcerer of some sort, maybe a magician or a sage…"

That last word struck a chord in Link's mind, but it was forgotten immediately, drowned out by the thing he was watching. Up on the building nearest the moon, a figure had climbed up and was staring at the moon. Sometimes it made hand gestures and behaved as if it were somehow communicated with the heavenly body itself.

Something about the figure seemed familiar.

"Could you zoom it in anymore?" Link asked, "There's something I want to see a little better."

"Sure thing," the man said and the image became more focused within moments.

Link gasped as he looked upon the creature he had encountered in the woods. He felt his hands grow sweat as he clenched them nervously. Here it was, all Link had to do was get there and make it reverse whatever it had done.

"What is that building?" Link asked, the urgency audible in his voice.

"Well, let me see," the man said, leaning in to take a look through the telescope, "Oh, that's the clock tower. Stands right in the center of town."

"Okay, thank you." Link said breathlessly. He had to get there quickly, had to be there now. He needed to reach that clock tower before the thing disappeared again.

"How do I get back to town from here?" Link asked as he headed for the staircase.

"Just follow the tunnel," the man said, confusion tinting his words, "How could you come in but not know the way out? I don't understand."

"I, uh, I hit my head and it's all kinda fuzzy still," that wasn't a total lie. He had hit his head, and his thoughts and memories were fuzzy. A sort of truth.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man said sincerely, "Here, let me give you something. I don't want you getting hurt permanently all because I'm a hermit, I'll give you this and if your injury turns out to be more severe than you thought, this should pay off any hospital bills."

The man grabbed a canvas wrapped bundle off of the nearby desk and handed it to Link.

"And don't worry about paying me back, I didn't pay anything for it and I have no need of money. If you don't end up needing the money, just consider it a gift. It's called a moon's tear, and it's very rare."

"Oh, thank you, uh, mister." Link said.

"It's my pleasure to help you out, I hope you come back soon. The moon's been getting steadily closer lately, so you might be able to get a better glimpse of it tomorrow, around ten or eleven. Well, goodbye."

"Bye mister," Link said, and disappeared down the staircase.

* * *

Another chapter for y'all. Hope you enjoyed it, although I do apologize for the corny _Scottish?_ joke, I just couldn't help myself. Leave a review, let me know what you think.


	4. Clocktower

I'm trying to put this on a two week schedule so updates should be more frequent from now on

* * *

Link ran through the dark tunnel, guided only by the faint flickers of light that fell down from the city. In truth he was darting from pool of light to pool of light, hoping that he wouldn't fall into a hidden abyss. It had happened before. Link had been running haphazardly, ignoring the scarce light and focusing only on getting out of here. Suddenly the ground gave way beneath his foot and he was left floundering in a pool too deep for him to touch the bottom. That meager danger had almost been the end of him, so now he careful not to repeat the mistake.

After a long time of sprinting through near darkness, Link reached a narrow staircase. He ran up it, intending to take the ascent two steps at a time. In his haste, Link forgot about his reduced size and ended up running headfirst into the second step. After that he contented himself with carefully climbing the steps one at a time. He'd never reach the clock tower if he gave himself a concussion down here in the sewers.

Through careful effort, Link managed to reach the top of the stairs and found himself in a narrow alley. Light seemed to be coming from one direction so he headed that way. Running at full speed, Link didn't see the boy until it was too late. He charged straight into the boy's back and threw both of them to the ground. The boy shrieked as he was struck but quickly jumped back to his feet and rounded on Link.

"Hey!" he shouted, confusion and accusation burning in his eyes, "Who are you! How'd you get down into the Bomber's secret hideout? Huh?"

Link took a step back, realizing just much bigger the boy was than him.

"And what's that you've got?" he demanded, noticing the moon's tear gripped in Link's hand, "You didn't take that from the astronomer, did you? Hey! Just what are you? A… one of those plant guys… are you a Deku?"

The kid scratched his head in bewilderment, granting Link an opportunity to slip past him. The boy called out after him, but Link moved quickly enough that he had disappeared into the crowd before the kid turned around.

Link was swept along by the crowd and taken wherever the current went. At some point he found himself in a long stairway that was lit primarily by the hanging lanterns that were strung overhead. They cast down multi-colored hues along with pale white. The illuminations mingled and muddled until the whole world seemed to be made of splotches of color. Link found himself staring all around, drinking in the colors and sounds.

Something shoved against him, knocking Link of his course and sending him stumbling through the crowd. Link found himself struggling not to be crushed underfoot. He dodged out of people's way and ran with raw panic beginning to flare up inside of him. Finally he managed to squeeze his way out of the fray and was sent stumbling into the front room of a shop.

A few moments passed before his eyes adjusted from the dim but colorful light to the bright room lit by a multitude of candles, torches, and lanterns. Shelves hung on the opposite wall, holding various pieces of equipment. Pots of colored potion, bundles of arrows, even a small pile of Deku nuts. The man at the counter lazed against it, supporting his head with one crooked arm. His eyelids seemed heavy, ready to fall shut any moment.

"Uh… hey," the man murmured, "You… uh… want somethin'?"

Link shook his head and started to make his way back toward the door, but a raspy rustle made him pause.

"H-h-hey!" a raspy voice called out, "Do you like ta' dance?"

Link spun around to face the voice and found himself looking into a straw face. Black button eyes stood out like lumps of coal in a sea of soft golden sand. A stitched-in smile spread from ear to ear, or at least to where the ears would've been.

Link tilted his head in confusion, staring up at the scarecrow. "What are you?" Link started to ask, but paused before continuing, "…are you talking about? Dance?"

"Yeah, dancin'" the scarecrow exclaimed enthusiastically, "It's such a great way to pass the time. Sometimes I'll start dancing and before I know it, the whole nights gone by. And with legs as fine as yours, I bet you're a great dancer."

"Uh," Link moaned, muttering something incomprehensible and trying to slip back out of the shop. He _had_ to get to the clocktower and find that skull kid. He needed to fix whatever had been done to him so he could find that _thing _he'd been looking for.

"Oh you're nervous…" the scarecrow said, leaning forward quickly and taking Link by the arm, "Don't worry, I'll start first and then you can go whenever you're ready."

The scarecrow laughed and released Link. Suddenly it began jerking and twisting merrily. Link half expected it to uproot itself in the flurry of motion. At first Link had intended to slip away once the scarecrow released him.

After a few moments of watching it, though, Link decided to wait a few seconds, that couldn't hurt. A few seconds stretched into a few minutes, and soon Link was dancing along with the scarecrow.

Time seemed to slip away as Link danced, however, he found out soon enough that he didn't care. All that mattered was the movement, the shaking and turning.

All that mattered was that he keep dancing with the scarecrow.

Hours passed and faded. At one point it became dark, as if all the light had been extinguished. Link thought he could see the shopkeeper glance at him sadly before locking up and leaving. Years could have passed for all Link knew.

He kept dancing.

* * *

After a time very close to forever had gone by, Link felt his body slowing. It did so of its own accord and within minutes the dancing had stopped. Link was standing in the shop, face to face with the scarecrow.

It laughed merrily, "Wow, I KNEW it. You're a dancer all right. Come back sometime, I'd love to get it on like that again!" With one last resounding chuckle, the scarecrow quivered and sank into the ground.

Link flinched back as the scarecrow disappeared. Before leaving the shop, he glanced over at the shopkeeper. It was a different man this time, older and more focused. Link thought he saw a small amused grin as the man shook his head slightly.

Without a word for the shopkeeper, Link left the shop and entered the crowded street again.

* * *

Link walked through the crowd, keeping an eye on the clocktower. It stuck out above the smaller buildings, stretching into the sky as it did. Link had to push against the crowd in some points in order to maintain his course, but it paid off. He was definitely getting closer to the tower. Where it had seemed distant and hazy before, it was now looming overhead.

Link walked into the square that housed the tower and looked up at it with a mixture of apprehension and disbelief. He realized there was no way for him to ascend it. Even if he had been a human, the tower was just too big.

There was no way.

Link sighed, moving as close to it as he could without falling into one of the bordering pools of water. He gazed up at it, trying to find some way he could climb the clocktower.

"Ugh, I know. If there were any way, I would. But those moon's tears are so rare there's no way I'd be able to get my hands on one."

Link heard the moon's tear mentioned and spun around. He found himself watching a large pair of Deku conversing.

"Well," one said, "I might be able to find one for you, but it depends what your price range is."

The other one sighed exasperatedly, "Anything! Money, my goods, my flight spot."

The first Deku nodded thoughtfully, "Okay, well, I'll see if I can find anything."

The other thanked the Deku as he turned and disappeared into the crowd. Link took his chance and stepped toward him. A flight spot seemed interesting, it might be useful.

"Umm, what's a flight spot?" Link asked the flustered Deku.

He glanced down at Link momentarily, then instantly did a double take. "Are you kidding?" he asked gruffly.

Link shook his head.

The Deku sighed sadly and muttered something before saying, "I can't believe your parents never taught you this… A flight spot is something we Deku can use to fly up in the air. Watch me."

The Deku turned and walked over to a large flower that seemed to be growing out of the stone. Upon reaching it, the Deku seemed to drop inside and was hidden from view. Then, with a sudden flurry of motion, the Deku launched out of the ground and into the air. Link watched, amazed, as the Deku soared above the height of the clocktower and floated there with the help of some kind of twin propellers.

Flight spots, Link decided, were _very_ useful.

Once the Deku returned to earth, Link made his proposition. "I heard you saying how much you want a moon's tear." Link said.

The Deku just looked at him, nodding absentmindedly.

When Link procured the moon's tear, he though the Deku's eyes might pop out of its head.

* * *

Link looked down at the flower, cautiously eyeing the dark hole in the center. Somehow it managed to seem ominous and foreboding, despite being set in a bright pink flower.

Drawing in a deep breath and holding it tightly, Link leapt into the center of the flower.

It was an odd sensation, slipping into the flower. For some reason the innards of the flower felt warm. Link could feel it pressing up against him from all directions. Link could hardly feel himself breathing, though he knew he must be. The pressure increased until Link was sure he would be crushed out of existence.

The pressure receded and Link found himself floating in the air. Something was holding him aloft, somehow.

Link's mind felt fuzzy as he floated through the air. On a whim, Link looked down and saw the clocktower. His mind grew sharp at that memory and the accompanied realization.

He had to reach the clocktower. He had to reverse what the skull kid had done to him.

He _had_ to find that thing he'd been looking for, before all of this began.

Link glided downward until he landed on the roof of the clocktower. Once there, Link waited. That was all he needed to do. Soon enough the skull kid would return to this place, and Link would be there when he did.

All that he needed to do was wait.

But as the seconds turned to minutes and the minutes to hours, Link was reminded of the night he had spent dancing instead of sleeping.

Soon enough, Link curled up behind a sun-bleached wooden box and went to sleep. He dreamed of home and a girl with red hair.

* * *

Link opened his eyes and flinched. That menacing face carved into the moon, it was no more than four dozen feet above him now. Link realized that it was somehow getting closer. At the same time he could feel himself being repulsed and drawn in by it.

Link shuddered and stood up.

He froze when he noticed the skull kid. It was floating in the air, staring down at this city. The thing's body bobbed up and down in the air, seeming to be taken on breaths of wind.

Looking around, Link tried to decide what to do. He didn't have any weapons on him, and the ground around him seemed to be barren except for… Link picked up the fist sized rock that was tucked behind the crate.

Link took aim and threw the stone with all of his force. As it left Link's hand, Link realized he may have made a terrible mistake. Whatever powers that skull kid had, they would probably be able to tear Link apart.

But the rock was already in the air, making a beeline for the skull kid's head.

At the last moment, the skull kid spun around with lightning speed and caught the stone in one outstretched hand. As Link watched, the stone turned to dust inside a clenched fist.

Link also saw something fall from the same hand, saw it drop as the skull kid reached for the stone.

It was his ocarina.

All of sudden, Link's focus was drawn to the instrument and he darted forward to catch it. As he moved, Link saw movement gathering in the air above him. Link was just a few feet away from the ocarina. He could feel energy buzzing up in the air.

Link caught the ocarina and kept running, being thrown from his feet by the shockwave. He felt bits of rubble and stone falling atop him and bouncing off. As he lay there, Link looked up at the skull kid, noting the anger and hatred in its eyes.

Pressing the ocarina to his lips, Link played a song that seemed to emanate from the instrument instead of his own mind. The notes almost produced themselves. Link obeyed the phantom urge that was flowing from the ocarina.

Link played the song of time.

* * *

Link drew himself up from the floor, pressing one hand to his aching forehead while he clenched the other tightly around his sword hilt. His whole body seemed to be quivering, though he couldn't tell if it was from anger of fear.

Spinning around jerkily, Link caught sight of Rauru standing there, watching. There was a taunting smirk that seemed out of place on the old man's face.

With a roar, Link crossed the intervening distance and struck out. His sword seemed just short of reaching flesh when Rauru disappeared. Without losing a step, Link twisted around and drew his sword up.

Something bright and powerful rebounded off the blade and shot off into the great white distance.

Link stood there watching Rauru, ten feet between them.

"I don't understand how you could do this," Link growled, his angry glare locked on Ruaru, "Torture… for the sake of torture. Why can't you understand?"

Something fierce crossed Rauru's eyes and the old man took a step toward Link. As he watched, Rauru seemed to waver and fade from existence.

A tight grip closed around Link's neck. Sharp, bony fingers dug into his skin.

A strange tingling sensation crawled through the hand and up Link's neck. Something seemed to shift in Link's head, and everything disappeared.

* * *

Link climbed the steps, feeling all too aware of the dank, clammy air around him. Setting one hand firmly on the wooden door, Link pushed it open and walked out into the bright sunlight of Clock Town.


	5. Something Missing

Link left the dank room beneath the windmill and gazed around the crowd. The first thing he noticed was actually his nose. Instead of the hard wooden bump he'd grown used to over the last few days; Link saw a normal fleshy nose. With one hand he felt it, and Link was surprised to see a human hand. Link gazed down at his body and gladly saw that he was fully human.

"Are ya' just gonna keep lookin' at yourself?" a voice said, "Or are we gonna get on to the swamp?"

Link looked around quickly for the source of the voice, and eventually found himself staring at a small white fairy who floated just above him.

"Navi? Is that you?" Link asked tentatively. He hadn't seen Navi since saving Hyrule. She'd explained that since he wouldn't need her anymore, and they had completed the Deku tree's request, she would go back to the forest. Link had thought about visiting, or something, but he didn't want to linger on the past. She had her own life among the kokiri, and he had his with… with someone…

"What?" the fairy snapped, "Who's Navi? I'm Tatl, and you said we were gonna be heading to the swamp. We've got ta' stop the skull kid!"

"What do you mean?" Link asked. All he could remember about the skull kid was that he had somehow changed Link into that Deku, but that was over now. Link had been changed back and everything was alright. Now he could go on with his search.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you!" the fairy shouted at him, "The skull kid is going to destroy this whole town."

Link gasped and suddenly memories rushed into his mind. The moon floating over the town, just moments away from impact. The skull kid doing _something_, and that other black fairy yelling something about the four.

"The giants!" Link said suddenly, "You said the swamp, right? Let's go!"

Link ran off suddenly, carried by instinct toward a nearby gate. The archway led them to a plain. To their left was a huge log that had been hollowed out. Some trees stood off in a cluster to their right. Otherwise, the only plant life was grass and the occasional shrub.

He stopped running about halfway across the field, and started gazing into the group of trees. A strange bird was perched in one of the branches and, as Link watched, it swooped down and snatched up a turtle from its hiding spot.

Link tried his best to ignore the bird, focusing instead on the other aspects of the terrain. Far beyond the stand of trees was a valley. Link couldn't see very far down the valley, but something about it seemed familiar. This whole place seemed familiar, for some reason.

Turning back to the swamp, Link looked into depth of the surrounding forest. Something was pulling him that way, something that wasn't an urge to stop the skull kid. Link started to push the feeling away, but for some reason he didn't want to. He wanted to find out what it was, and go home to it.

What was that supposed to mean?

Link shook his head, trying to focus himself, and entered the swamp.

Link walked to the end of the dock and climbed the ladder. This seemed as good a place as any to start looking. Maybe whoever lived here would have an idea, anyway.

Upon entering the second story hut, Link found him in a room seemingly dedicated to pictures. Framed pictures of all sizes covered the walls. They depicted everything from animals and plants to people and buildings and even a few of seemingly abstract collections of objects.

"Uh, hello?" Link said aloud. There didn't seem to be anyone in the room save for the two of them. As if in answer, a tapping nose and a discreet cough drew Link's attention to a small darkened hole in the wall. Link went over to it and a voice began to speak.

"I bet you're here about the pictograph contest…"a dreary voice said.

Exchanging a look with Tatl, Link nodded.

The voice sighed then continued, "Of course you are…" then suddenly the tone changed, becoming jubilant and excited, "For all you aspiring photographers out there, we've decided to host a contest to reward your dedication to this cutting edge art form. From us to you, the boating house pictograph contest!"

The voice paused for a moment, took a breath, then continued, "I'm sure you're just as excited by this news as I am for, you see, anyone can be a winner. That's right, you heard me, anyone! Just take your pictobox out with you, snap a picture, and bring it back here for judging. Any pictographs deemed to have exceptional artistic quality will be rewarded."

The voice paused again, grumbled to itself quietly, then began again.

"'What's the reward?' you ask? Simply an all-expenses paid trip on the newly refurbished riverboat. What's the catch? No catch! Just a few simple rules and you can be on your way to becoming a grand victor. First rule! All pictures must be taken within the area of the swamp itself. The second rule is that all pictures must be submitted by the deadline of tomorrow's tomorrow. And the third and most important rule is…"

The voice seemed to growl angrily before continuing.

"HAVE FUN!"

Once again Tatl and Link exchanged a look. Link turned back to the window and asked, "Do you know where…"

A puff of smoke floated out through the window and into his face. While Link was coughing, the voice said gruffly, "I did the speech, kid, talk to my manager if you want anything else." And with that, a wooden panel slid down and blocked the window off.

Printed on its surface, the panel had the words, "Sorry I'm not here right now, I'm on my lunch break, I'll be back soon to help you with _anything_ you want." Below that there was a yellow happy face with an absurdly wide smile.

And below that there was a bad word written carelessly in thick black ink.

"Huh," Tatl said, "Well he seems cheery, let's go talk with that manager he mentioned. I hope he's better with people."

Link turned around and walked to the desk opposite the window. It was plain, adorned only with a simple silver bell. Link rang it and a large man appeared just a few moments later. He towered over Link and was almost as wide as he was tall.

"I'm sorry about my associate," the man said, "he's not much of a people person but he's probably the only man alive skilled enough to run a boat through these waters. Anyways, how may I help you?"

"Your, uh, associate, mentioned boat tours. How much would one of those cost," Tatl said.

"Four hundred rupees per tourist, well, I guess I could count the both of you as one cause of your, uh, size."

Tatl groaned in frustration.

"Uh, we don't have that much," Link said, "Is there any other way?"

"Well," the man began, "You could enter in the pictograph contest, I bet that'd be the easiest way to get another go at the riverboat tour."

"Another? We've never been," Link said, trying to think of a way to come up with four _hundred_ rupees.

"You've never been?" the man said in disbelief, "You know what? This one's on me, just make sure you two enjoy yourselves. Hey Sam!" the man shouted, "Get the riverboat ready, we got a couple a' tourists who want to check out the swamp."

The little wooden door slid back up a few inches and Link saw a pale nose stick out through the opening. "What's that?" Sam asked.

"Tourists!" the manager shouted, "Get the boat! We got tourists!"

"Oh," the man said disappointedly. The wooden door slid back down and Link heard the sounds of movement come sifting through the wall.

The manager muttered something to himself then said, "Well, go ahead and meet him down below, and have fun. With any luck you'll love it so much you'll just _have _to have another go at it."

Link and Tatl said their thanks and headed outside.


	6. A Jumping Off Point

The boat floated through the swamp, skirting around toppled logs and submerged stones. Moss covered everything and some type of algae floated in the water, rendering it heavy and opaque. Link didn't see any movement in the water, just a curious stillness that was broken only by ripples of the boats The

Link looked up at the trees and the surrounding area. Mud covered the banks in a glistening coat of muck. Just by looking at it, Link knew it would suck him knee deep if he tried to step on it, if not deeper. Bugs whizzed through their air on membranous wings. Link looked out at the trees and could almost see himself climbing in and among their webs of branches.

That image nagged at him, but Link didn't know why.

A screech came from among those branches, stabbing through the air and tearing Link from his contemplative stupor. From her perch on Link's shoulder, Tatl asked quietly, "What was that?"

"Don't know…" was Link's response.

The man directing the boat, Sam, said nothing. He'd been silent throughout the whole trip. Even when an octoroc had burst from the water directly ahead of them and begun firing, the man had simply dodged out of the projectile's path and changed the boat's direction. They went around the monster and somehow managed to evade the majority of the projectiles.

Another screech ripped through the air, then another. They were getting closer, Link realized.

"Hey, what's goin' on? What're those?" Link asked the man.

The question earned Link a weary glance and a few unexpected words, "Monkeys… settled down."

Literally, a few. As in just three, that was it. The only words the man would say throughout the whole trip.

A screech sounded from the trees off to their left and something leapt out at them. It shot through the air and fell onto the boat with a boat-rocking thud.

The monkey stood in the center of the boat and stared at Link, its eyes big and curious. Its hands reached out suddenly and took hold of Link's. He only had a moment to register the movement to his right. Link's head swung that way just in time to watch a monkey swing over on a vine and grab hold of the first monkey.

And the first monkey had Link by the hand.

Link was dragged off of the boat in a flurry of movement and carried away, Tatl gripping tightly onto his shoulder.

Unseen arms carried Link through the air, drawing him through the forest until he was dropped onto a patch of dirt. Link barely managed to stop himself from landing flat on the ground. He was able pull off a crippled roll that left him dizzy on the ground.

While Link was trying to regain his head, a trio of small shapes dropped down in front of him. They formed a tight semicircle that enclosed him against an aged wooden wall.

"Hero," one of the monkeys squealed, "You must save our brother."

Link, still with a hand pressed to his aching forehead, glanced up at the speaking monkey. It should have surprised him more that the animal had talked, but if anyone could claim strange occurrences as a profession, it was Link.

"What're you talking about?" Link moaned out, "What brother? Where?"

Somewhere to his left, Link could hear the faint sounds of Tatl throwing up. Link felt bad for her. Navi had always been able to keep up with the frantic dealings that Link lived with, but maybe they were just too much for other fairies.

"_Well…"_Link thought, "_That last bit was almost too much for me so maybe I should give her a break."_

"Our brother has been captured by the Deku, held prisoner for crimes he is not guilty of," a second monkey said urgently, "You must free him before he can come to any harm at their hands."

"Yeah…" Link groaned, "But where?"

"He is within their city, beyond the wall you're leaning against at this moment. None but Deku are allowed in the city, so you'll have to sneak in."

T\hen, in unison, the monkeys cried, "Please! You must save him!"

"Alright fine," Link said, climbing unsteadily to his feet, "I'll do it."

The monkeys cheered then scampered off into the woods. They disappeared almost immediately and left Link alone in the clearing.

Alone except for Tatl.

Retching having finished, the fairy rounded on Link with an angry glare and a growl, "Come on! You've gotta warn me before stuff like that happens! Do you see how _tiny_ I am? That could've killed me!"

Link listened to the fairy rant at him for a few more moments before cutting in with, "Can you fly or do you want a ride on my shoulder?"

Tatl looked up at him with hate etched on her face, then grumbled and began climbing up his arm.

Having dealt with the fairy, the only thing left to do was find the imprisoned monkey and free him. If only Link knew that this was easier said than done.

Link sidled sluggishly along the wall, focusing his whole being on not making a sound. Guards littered the area, patrolling in squads or all alone. Most of them went along routes, but a few just wandered aimlessly, searching through the building independently for the intruder.

That was Link, of course. He'd said he would save the monkey, and that was what he meant to do. But this place was huge, and Link had been wandering for what must've been hours.

Link spied a hole set high up in one of the walls, some kind of vent. From where Link stood, he could see a ramp leading up to a place near the vent, near enough that Link would have no trouble entering the vent from there with a well-placed leap.

He waited a second, then burst from cover. For the first few moments, there was no sound as he escaped the patrols' notice. He was almost all of the way up the ramp before a shrill cry of "There he is!" went up. At that point it was too late, since Link had just leapt and disappeared into the vent.

The space was tight, forcing him to crawl on his hands and knees. Still his shield was dragged against the low ceiling and cramped walls. Link forced his way through the tight space, fighting to move forward. After a long while of struggling and the constant sense that the walls were going to close in on him any moment, Link reached the end.

He didn't realize he had reached the end until the ground suddenly gave way beneath him and Link went falling through the air. He dropped to the ground below and found himself half buried in mud.

"Hey…" a voice whispered from above.

Link started to turn toward it, but the voice said suddenly in a panic, "No, don't move. They'll see you."

Link obeyed the voice and remained where he was, half submerged in mud.

"My brothers sent you to save me… didn't they?"

Link tried to reply but the voice shushed him, so instead he just nodded.

"Okay…" the voice murmured thoughtfully, "That won't work. The real problem is the princess. They think I kidnapped her, but that's not true. Only… they don't believe me. You've got to go find her."

Link thought he might growl in frustration. He already had something to do and didn't need extra chores added on top of that.

"She's in the temple… on top of the waterfall. You've got to hurry. They haven't seen you yet, I don't think. You've got to go now, you've got to save the princess."

Link raised his face slowly from the mud and looked up at the monkey. He was attached to a vertical pole by what appeared to be a tightly wound vine.

His inhibitions about saving this princess vanished as the monkey mentioned a temple. Temples were usually where he needed to go. Even if it wasn't his final destination, Link could think of worse jumping off points.

Moving quickly and quietly, Link left the monkey behind and sneaked back out the way he had come.


	7. By a Hair

Link ran, clutching his sword low in one hand. He had to hurry, as Tatl kept reminding him, because the monkey was due to be executed any minute. In truth they had no idea how long the monkey had, but it seemed a good idea to hurry.

So Link did just that, running up the crisscrossing slope that ran behind the waterfall. Water sprayed out over the path, turning the dirt to mud in some places and making even the packed gravel slippery. Link stayed low, ran fast, and held his sword out to the side so an accidental slip wouldn't end him.

There were a few monsters lingering on the trail, a few mad Deku and a couple clusters of keese hiding in the darkened corners. Link didn't have the time or the patience to even _try_ sneaking past, so he launched himself into frenzied battle at every possible opportunity.

So far he hadn't even taken a scratch, maybe he was a better warrior than he thought.

Before the ego feeding thought could go any further, a soft bird cry drew his attention. It wasn't a hawk, or a crow, but an owl's _hoot_. Something about the sound drove a spike of disgust into Link and that disgust managed to morph into aversion and fear.

Before he could think to wonder why, Link ducked behind a stand of sickly looking shrubbery and held his breath. The owl hooted a few more times, some nearer and some farther, then after a while it faded away. Link didn't understand the unrest the owl caused, but it did. Once the bird was gone, Link left his place of hiding, ignored Tatl's caustic remarks, and continued his ascent.

It wasn't long before he reached the top, which was the lip of a large bowl. The bowl was full of water which supported a menagerie of debris, from lily pads to floating wooden barges, from half submerged skeletons to glistening masses of snot colored substances.

One of the most obvious and disturbing aspects of the lake was the color itself. The water was a sickening purple color. Gigantic bubbles floated to the surface and popped in a way that suggested they were thicker than water should be. The whole thing gave off an acrid stench that stung Link's nose.

He gripped his sword harder and ran down into the bowl. A path led from the lip and to an area packed with debris. Link leapt onto a wide platform that accepted his weight with only the slightest amount of unstable swaying. The purple water crept up over the edge and Link leapt to the next platform before it could come close to his foot.

Like this he went along, leaping from one platform to the next, and from there on. The platforms themselves were made from a wide variety of debris, from the broken bows of ships to decrepit river boats, front doors with peeling paint and thick tables with three or four greying legs pointing up to the sky.

In the center of the bowl was an island. It looked like a large boulder had been dropped in the middle of the lake and Link would've dismissed it as such if he hadn't seen the gravelly beach and the darkened archway leading into the island's depths.

It took him the better of an hour to cross over the lake, zigzagging across its surface as he did. Finally he managed to throw himself through the air and onto the beach. However, as he leapt, the platform slipped and his course was thrown off. Link landed with one foot on dry gravel, and one foot half submerged in the acrid purple water.

Link let out a cry of pain as a burning sensation raced across and through the flesh of his foot. Link collapsed onto the beach and dragged himself away from the water as quickly as his shaking hands would let him. Link finally escaped the burning water and found himself lying on the gravelly beach with his whole body limp.

It took a few minutes for the crawling, burning pain to subside. Eventually it turned into a kind of half remembered itch that allowed him to operate the limb once again. Link tore of his boot and examined his foot, surprised to find it completely unharmed.

Putting his shoe back on, Link glared out at the lake, and then ran into the cavern. Whatever that purple water was, Link didn't doubt that it came from the temple.

The air inside was dark and cold. Somehow it was dry while the stink of decay lay heavy within it. Link stood on a ledge, only partially illuminated by the outside sun. Beyond the semicircle of light, the place was as dark as night. A few lanterns dangled strayly in the darkness, not giving off enough light to illuminate anything beyond themselves.

Link walked cautiously to the ledge and gazed down into the deep darkness. Skittering sounds came from below, scratching and squeaking in a way that drove a wedge of uneasiness into Link's determination.

However, Link only had to think of the nonexistent wound, the purple water, the monkey, and the princess. Those things drove him to do something that any normal person would never have imagined doing.

Link took a deep breath, readied his sword and shield, and leapt down into the abyss.

* * *

Link struggled down the hill, feeling the weight of his equipment dragging him down piece by piece. A dozen wounds marred his body, not counting the throbbing exhaustion he felt. Beside him, Tatl jabbered constantly about something. On the other side, the Deku Princess trotted along, ignoring his pain and insisting he hurry up.

Up ahead the Deku complex stood, menacing. The three of them made their way to the river and crossed it with the help of a half-submerged log. Link was happy to see the water back to its normal colorlessness, marred only by the average swampy muck that floated through it.

They reached the far side quickly and stopped before entering the complex. The princess thanked him there and apologized for not bringing him into the complex but rules were rules. She thanked him again then Link watched as the princess ran across the bridge and into the complex.

From where he stood, Link could hear her surprise the guards then, a moment later, begin yelling at someone, presumably the king.

"He didn't _kidnap_ me!" she shrieked, "How _dare_ you imprison this monkey! He's a hero, not a villain! Release him!"

Link could almost feel the princess screams echoing through the air, and he almost felt bad for the king.

"Link…" Tatl said, "Look at the moon…"

Link obeyed, forgetting about the Deku, and was shocked to realize the moon was so close. He knew what was coming, of course, the imminent contact.

"How long were we in there?" Link asked in an astonished fashion.

"I don't know…" Tatl responded, just as surprised, "Days… I guess. Hurry, play that song so we can get outa here."

Link nodded and pulled the ocarina from his bag.

Pressing it to his lips, Link played the song the reminded him of Hyrule, of home, of…

* * *

"Malon…" Link murmured.

All at once he realized where he was. Link stood in the center of a white room that seemed to stretch on forever. It shouldn't have been called a room, truly, but Link didn't know what else to call it. He couldn't see the sun, so it must have been indoors, but there were no walls that he could see, and no ceiling. A certain unearthly light seemed to come from all around, pouring from every nonexistent surface.

Link looked up with a glare and found himself staring at Rauru. The sword gripped in Link's hand reminded him what he was doing and, before another second had gone by, Link leapt toward Rauru.

He struck out as quickly as he could, remembering how the man had so easily evaded him before. Rauru leapt aside, escaping the blade, but barely. Link felt his blade catch on something and he heard a loud tearing sound.

Link and Rauru both froze, staring at the long gash cut in the sage's robe. Rauru looked back at Link, apparently preparing to do or say something, but Link beat him to it. His sword flashed out and caught the man's robe again.

Again and again, Link attacked and Rauru escaped by a hair. The sage's robe was covered in long gashes and torn patches.

Link drove his sword forward, hoping to drive it straight through Rauru's chest. The sage raised a hand and held it out, palm facing the sword. Rauru's hand began to glow and Link saw a pulse of light burst from his flesh.

It sprang forth in a ring, and Link could feel the energy buzzing in the air. The ring flew forward until it had surrounded Link.


	8. Battling Snowpeak

I know its been a while since I updated, but I'm back. Summer vacation is here, and I'm going to put myself back to work. Updates on all of my stories once per week.

* * *

Everything spun and whirled while Link was sucked backward. He could feel everything dropping, falling away from him. It was flying past him, whooshing by and leaving him behind. Little things zipped by at the edge of his vision but Link could still feel them going away. Everything was white, all uncolored and empty. It was all empty, all around him. Everything had gone now and he was left all alone. Still he was falling backward while the nothingness flew away from him. It all shook around him, all that emptiness, buzzing and twisting, shrinking and burning. Everything was alive and nothing at the same time.

Then it was all gone.

All of the nothing went away and left, in its place, a colossal stillness.

Link stood in the damp, dank, darkness and simply stared at the door in front of his face. Double doors, actually, tall and wooden. Between them was a vertical stripe of light, a crack through which he could see an unidentified maelstrom of movement.

"What are we just gonna hang out here all day!?" a voice whined from just above Link's right ear.

He jumped, twisting around to see an eggshell colored fairy floating above his shoulder. She was staring down at him with an annoyed look.

"Nav…"

She cut him off.

"Oh don't you start that again! I'm Tatl. Ta! Tl! I don't who this Navi is but she's not here! I am! We've got a job to do too. We! Shouldn't! Be! Here! We've gotta get out there! Go to the mountains, find the next…"

Link cut her off.

"The mountains!?" he groaned, remembering himself flying through the air for some reason. There was a… bird? "Where are they?"

"To the uh… north. What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

"Nothing, I… just. Nothing, let's go."

With that said, Link knocked the door open with one hand and bolted through the opening. Tatl had to move fast to escape through the swinging door and catch up as he ran through the crowd.

* * *

Link fought his way through the snow-thick air. The ground beneath his feet was covered in soft snow, made slick by a thin layer of ice that ran along the top. Wind currents ran through the air, beating Link mercilessly back and forth.

His sword lay unused in its scabbard, buried beneath his shield which was in turn buried beneath a constantly thickening sheathe of ice. At first Link had paused every few dozen steps to knock the ice off and tear his sword out of its resting place lest he encounter an adversary in the blizzard. However, the farther he went, the more sure Link was that he was totally alone out here.

The farther he went, the more tired his arms became and after a while he became sure that he couldn't produce the strength to draw his sword and shake the ice off of his shield.

Tatl was curled up under his floppy green hat, shivering lightly even in her sheltered place. Hair normally hung down in Link's vision, but now there were needles of ice sprouting from the tips. Frost had formed in his hair as well, packing itself into the blonde mass.

Link's hands were shaking uncontrollably as he rubbed them together. His fingers were starting to go numb, though the skin of his exposed legs was becoming hypersensitive. Each rock or shard of ice that was tossed by the wind burned like a grievous wound.

As tired as he was, Link's feet kept on diligently plodding along. He knew deep down that he couldn't stop here. If he did he would surely die, and he couldn't die. There was some reason, some far away reason that kept him from stopping. He knew he had to survive, he knew that nothing would stop him from going back home to… to…

The question itched in Link's mind as he marched through the snow. Not for long, though. It wasn't very long before the cold had dulled his thoughts and slowed his mind. He was a machine, taking one step then the next then the next then another and another and another.

He moved thoughtlessly, pressing on past what he should have been able to do. Numb legs carried him far past the time they should have given out. For some reason he couldn't remember, Link fought to keep going. He couldn't stop here, he couldn't die, he had to return.

However, there is only so much that raw willpower can accomplish.

At two o'clock on the first day, Link collapsed in the snow of utter exhaustion.

I originally intended for this chapter to be longer but there's no way to keep writing a chapter after that last line. And that line was two good to resist. Whatever, chapter 9 will be longer for it.


	9. The Dead Village

The first sensation that Link noticed was the feeling of something rough and itchy pressed up against him. It was warm, draped over his body. Link stirred slightly, though he still hadn't found the will to open his eyes.

A sound caught his attention, a slight shuffling noise off to his right. That put him over the edge and caused Link to finally open his eyes. He sat up bringing the itchy blanket up with him.

"Oh you're awake," a frail sounding voice said, "No… don't get up. Your body is far too weak right now."

Link searched for the voice's source and he found himself looking at a wizened and aged woman. Greyish white hair was pulled into a tight bun at the back of her head and a large pair of glasses reflected the firelight, hiding her eyes.

"What… what happened," Link groaned out. His voice sounded small, and his throat was dry. She seemed to notice this and immediately began pouring water from a pewter jug.

"One of the Gorons found you out in the blizzard. It's just luck that you survived. Who knows how long you'd been out there."

"Uhh, what day… how long until the… the festival in clock town," Link gasped between gulps of water. It wasn't until he started drinking that he realized just how dehydrated he was. It felt as if his mouth was full of sand, no matter how much water he drank.

"The day after the day after tomorrow. Don't worry, you should be well enough to move around by then. You won't miss the festival."

Suddenly Link began to panic. There was no way he could stay here for that long. He had to get going. He had to get out of here and find the fairy. He had to fix thing sand stop the moon and he _had to get back home!_

Link dropped the empty cup and tried to leap out of the bed. However, the woman was upon him before his feet had reached the floor.

"No! You can't get out of bed yet," she scolded. The woman had grasped him by the shoulders and Link was surprised to realize he had trouble fighting against her. After a short struggle he relented and fell backward into the bed.

Link lay there, shocked, while the lady grabbed a handful of the rough blankets and pulled them back over him.

"I already told you. Your body is too weak for you to do anything. You might be able to walk around tomorrow, but don't even _think _about it until then. We have enough problems up here without having to nurse you back from death _again_."

"We?"

"Yes," the woman replied matter-of-factly, "You're in what used to be the Goron village. There are a few of them left, and then there's me and my grandson. He is a sword maker. I came up here to visit him a few months ago but the snows have me trapped up here."

"What do you mean _used to be_?" Link asked.

"It's the snows. Gorons aren't meant to live in such a cold climate, and because of that there's only a few of them left. I've heard there are more in the royal caverns to the north, but I've never been up that way. Anyway, there aren't many Gorons left in this village. The village is falling apart because of this, and it's a veritable ghost town by now."

"Isn't there anything that could be done to fix it?"

"I'm not sure. I've heard about some sort of temple to the west of here, but I've never been there and I don't think anyone else has gone that way since this all started."

Suddenly suspicious, Link asked, "What do you mean anyone _else_? Did someone go there just before the snow started?"

The woman seemed to stand in thought for a moment, then she said, "Yes, a strange young child went up that way just the day before."

Link wanted to ask what the child looked like, but some part of him already knew. He'd only seen it once before, but that nightmarish event had been more than enough. Link remembered clinging to the stirrups while some skeletal _thing_ rode away with his horse. Link remembered the sudden jarring impact that tore him off and the blurry determined stagger through the forest, after the tracks and into the cave.

Link remembered falling, and fighting, and fear, and that _child_.

Whatever that thing had done, Link had to stop it. That creature was hurting people, and Link had to fix it. However, he was stuck here. This woman wasn't going to let him leave, and he was in absolutely no position to force his way past her.

Link lay back in bed and closed his eyes. He needed to think of a way out of here. After about a minute, the woman decided he was asleep and walked away.

There had to be a way out. She was sure to catch him if he just stood up and went for the door, so he had to somehow trick his way past her. He'd never been good with subtlety or trickery, but he'd have to dig something up if he wanted to get out of here.

He had to find a way…

* * *

The solution didn't come to him until hours later. He didn't even think of it, it literally came to him. The opportunity presented itself on a silver platter and Link would've been stupid to miss it.

Very, very stupid.

Around the time the single window in the room began to darken, the woman went to another bed in the room and climbed into it. Link watched her doing this, watched her turn the lights out and watched her fall asleep. It didn't take long, but eventually she was obviously out cold.

At this point Link climbed slowly out of the bed. He gathered his equipment, carrying his boots, hat, sword, and shield all in his hands. Link moved slowly, like a cat. Like a cat stuck in syrup. Like a cat stuck in syrup in slow motion. It could have taken him an hour to cross the room and get out the door.

Once he had, Link pulled it quietly shut behind him. He assembled his gear on the porch, and was about to put his hat on when Tatl appeared out of it. She looked tired and disheveled. The fairy floated weakly in the air, bobbing up and down slowly.

"We… going?" she murmured.

"Yeah," Link said, testing out his body. He was still tired, still sore. Very tired and very sore, but he had to get out there and get going.

Tatl nodded and landed on his shoulder lightly.

Link took a deep breath and left the porch. The air was bitingly cold, but he pushed himself into it and kept going. As he walked, Link thought he saw something large in the distance watching him. It was a silhouette, a big shadow in the white of the snowstorm.

It reminded him of something he'd seen a long time ago.

Link hurried away from it.


	10. The Chasm

Link fought with all of his might against the crushing tide of snow. It came down dense and heavy. Link could feel each independent piece as it crashed against his face and hands. They felt sharp, and Link could've sworn that each impact tore away a chuck of his flesh or left behind a bloody gash in its wake.

His eyes were shut tight, and Link could hardly think. It was so loud, so deafening. A long time ago, Link had pulled his hat low over his ears. The thin cloth didn't provide much warmth, but it kept the snow from packing itself into his ears.

Link pushed his way through the wall of snow, fighting for each step. The snowstorm gave ground begrudgingly, and Link's muscles were all screaming. He was digging through a snow bank as tall as he was. He had trouble finding traction on the ground and he slipped as often as he moved forward.

The snow stopped.

The steadfast wall crumbled and Link fell forward in its absence. Falling to his knees, Link found that he was collapsed upon stone instead of snow. Doing his best to crawl forward, out of the cold, Link scrambled across the stone like a crippled animal. He moved forward a couple of feet and found he could do no more. Link fell across the stone and lay sprawled out.

The stone wasn't warm. It wasn't as cold as the snow outside, however. It was just, nothing. Flat and featureless. The air in this place was the same. Not as bitingly cold as the weather outside, but by no means comforting. It was lukewarm, and uncomfortable. However, compared to the deadly storm outside and taking in account Link's bone deep weariness, it might as well have been a hotel room with a roaring fire and plush bed sheets.

Link wanted desperately to sleep, or at least to rest.

However, he knew he couldn't. He had to move. His muscles screamed out complaints as he pushed against the stone floor. They burned and threatened to tear as he rose to his knees. Every joint in his body seemed on the verge of giving out. Each bone groaned as he moved, ready to break with any added pressure.

Gritting teeth set in a tired jaw, Link climbed to his feet.

He managed to open his eyes and was now staring straight ahead. It was dark in here. Not pitch black, but not well lit. One crackling torch hung against a wall. The shadows it cast outnumbered the light.

Link had managed to stand, but he didn't know if he could take a step. And if he could, Link didn't know if he could take another. Everything pointed to the chance of him just collapsing now and dying.

"You…" a tiny voice said, "You can't give up now."

Tatl crawled weakly out from beneath his hat. She glowed faintly and floated up and down haphazardly. As she spoke, Tatl's voice seemed to be addressing something far away and she didn't quite look at Link as she talked.

"We're here… That's… That's most of the way. We've done the hardest part."

"But the…" Link said, surprised that he could, "It almost got us beat. I don't know if I can do anything now."

"You've got to keep going. You saw the snow. You… felt it. Just imagine what it's doing… to the… the Gorons. They are dying out there. It's your… your duty… duty to save them. You've got to stop this."

"But why…" Link said weakly. His resolve was on the edge of failing, he could feel it. He was slipping away, just moments away from crumbling.

"Because," Tatl said firmly, putting the remainder of her strength into the sentence, "You're the only one who can."

And with that, the fairy collapsed onto his shoulder. Lifting his hand slowly and with much effort, Link scooped her up and held her to the edge of his hat. Gratefully, Tatl took hold of a piece of his hair and pulled herself beneath the green cloth.

Link could feel her there, curled up on the top of his head.

Moving his hand just a little farther, Link wrapped it around the hilt of his sword. It moved in the scabbard with a slow raspy hiss, but Link eventually managed to get it out. The weight of the weapon pulled down on his arm and it sank down beside him.

Link was just able to keep it from touching the ground. He moved forward, one step at a time. Link's boots felt heavy, and each step turned into a stomp as his foot fell back down.

After a few minutes of movement, Link managed to move a little faster, to raise his arms a little higher. Eventually he could force his body to comply and to operate as it should. Determination flowed through his veins like blood, pushing him and pushing him.

* * *

It pushed him until he could stop.

Link stood among the wreckage of the mechanized monster. Smoldering pieces lay around the room. Link looked out over the destruction and sighed.

His body ached.

His grip was weak. So weak. Link didn't realize that he had dropped his shield until it clanged off of a piece of the wreckage. Link felt the sword leave his hand and it dug itself into the ground with a soft thump.

He was done.

Link fell to his knees and stared ahead. He could see it now. It was walking toward him, standing tall above him. Somehow Link knew this wasn't due to his kneeling or even to his child's body. Had Link been a thousand feet tall, this thing would have loomed a thousand feet over him.

It was huge, bigger than the earth and bigger than the Goddesses. It was bigger than time and everything.

Link could have stared into the dark emptiness of its body for a thousand years and seen nothing. It was just… nothing. All of it, absolute nothing.

There was a feeling about it of time. It was bigger than time but it was also old. So old. Older than everything. It had been alive forever and it would be alive forever more.

Looking up at it, Link saw something. In all of its expanses of nothing, Link saw hate. Absolute hatred staring down at Link. And death, and darkness, and fear, and… nothing. Absolute nothing forever.

A hand reached down toward Link, full of claws and knives and fire. The thing was going to take hold of his throat and lift him up. It wouldn't bother killing him, it was just going to destroy him. Make him disappear into the chasm. It was the chasm. There was death in the chasm, and fear, and darkness, so much darkness.

Link looked up at the chasm and waited for it to take him.

Something picked Link up, but it didn't feel like the chasm. It was old, but not as old as the chasm. Not nearly so old. Nothing could be as old as the chasm. This thing that carried him, it was old, older than Link at least. It was tired too, and scared.

Terrified.

The thing picked Link up and flew away with him. It flew away as fast as it could, as fast as anything could. The thing carried Link far away until the chasm was only a speck on the distant horizon. It was there, though.

Link could see it, he could feel it. It was coming. They had outrun it for now but soon enough it would catch up.

It was already coming after them, after Link.

Because Link was all it wanted.

* * *

Link opened his eyes and found himself in warm air. He sat up slowly but his whole body screamed at him. Link froze then, not daring to move any more.

From this angle, Link could see where he was. The mountains were alive now. Animals frolicked through green grass. Butterflies fluttered around. It all looked happy.

Link felt weak and dead and broken. He felt like he was going to shatter and fall apart, crumble and disintegrate.

Tatl shrieked.

"What _was_ that thing? It… I've never been so afraid. It was just… standing there, then it reached out for us. I thought it was going to kill me. I _knew_ it was going to kill me. I…"

Link drowned the fairy's terrified ravings out while he reached for his ocarina. It was around here somewhere, inside of his backpack, ahh, there it was.

Link pulled the instrument out.

Fitting it to his lips, Link played the song with tired hands and felt himself falling away from the world and through the world into another place and another time.

* * *

Rauru watched speechless as Link's body began to move again. He was stunned by what he had just learned. It was horrific, and he hadn't expected it. This was awful, and Rauru wasn't sure what to do. He hadn't expected this to happen within his lifetime, and he'd never wanted it to.

"I had no idea…" he grumbled out even as the boy swung the old sword at him.

Rauru moved out of the way, feeling the blade just an inch away from his flesh.

"I wouldn't wish this on anybody," Rauru said, dodging out of the way again, "Not even you."

The boy didn't seem to hear him and kept right on with his onslaught.

"Give me back my memories!" he roared, swinging the sword, "Take away those visions!"

Rauru felt the blade bite into his left hand and he moved on impulse. Thrusting forward his right palm, the sage tapped into his old magic and unleashed it on the boy.

He fell backward and shut his eyes, sinking back into the dream world.

Rauru stood there for a moment, looking down at the small wound then up at the frozen boy. So this was what he'd meant by the visions. Rauru had had no way of suspecting _this_.

He had to warn the princess, but how could he?

Rauru stared at the boy and felt pity. True pity for what lay ahead. What he'd said, it was true. He wouldn't wish this on _anybody_.

Rauru sighed, and made a decision.

* * *

Link stumbled forward through the twin wooden doors. Everything was spinning, twisting. His head didn't feel right, nothing felt right. Link stared around with wide eyes. Everything was moving and it was all _wrong_. It hurt his eyes and hurt his head, hurt his stomach and his blood. It hurt everything.

Link felt his body disappear and before he knew it he had collapsed to the ground. He didn't even feel the impact as his head struck the cobblestones. His vision had already turned black.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this bit of darkness and intrigue. We are now officially at the halfway point.


	11. Slipping Through

That last chapter was our midway point, just to let you know. Hope you're enjoying this.

* * *

The first thing Link saw when he awoke was a plain wooden ceiling. It was flat and brown, made of many boards set beside each other. Link could hear the crackling noise of a nearby fire and he sat up. The plain blanket slid down a little as he propped himself up against the wall.

"You've really gotta cut down on the fainting," Tatl said from her perch on one of the bed's short posts.

Link grinned at the fairy's remark and suddenly felt a sharp pain course through his skull. One hand shot up to the source and pressed lightly, intent on quelling the throbbing headache that seemed to be growing by the second.

"You hit your head when you blacked out." Tatl informed him, "I don't really blame you. That… dark thing. It was enough to fray the best of nerves."

Before Tatl could continue her monologue about the experience, the doorknob began to turn. It squealed slightly as it admitted a tall red haired woman.

"Oh, you're up. I was worried, "she said, "You're going to have a nasty lump on your head."

"Where am I?" Link asked blearily.

"An unused room in the Clock Town Inn. You should count yourself lucky, these don't come cheap. But I couldn't just leave you out in the street, could I? This room has a reservation for later today, but so long as you don't ruin anything I don't see why you can't borrow it for a couple hours. Anyway, here's some food."

She handed him a tray with a sparse assortment of food.

"There's a sandwich, a pear, and a glass of… water. I'd have gotten you some milk but," her tone grew a worried edge, "there haven't been any deliveries for a while. It's really pretty strange. Cremia is usually like clockwork with her rounds…"

Link looked over toward the woman and saw the worry written across her face.

"If you'd like…" Link began hesitantly, "I could go and check on her."

The woman looked at him suddenly, as if she'd forgotten he was there. "No, I couldn't let you do that. These are my problems and I shouldn't get a stranger involved in them."

"I'd be happy to," Link said, the words tumbling out as if on their own, "Just think of it as my way of repaying you for your hospitality. I don't want to take advantage of you without making up for it in some way."

The woman stared at him for a moment before finally sighing and relenting. "Okay, if you insist. Do you know how to get to the ranch?"

Link shook his head and she proceeded to give him directions from the inn itself. After just a few repetitions, Link had it memorized. After that she left and he ate the food she'd left him. More accurately, he wolfed it down. Link was extremely hungry for some reason, and the food seemed to be extra delicious for some reason.

After that he got his stuff, which had been by the foot of the bed, and headed out in search of Cremia and her ranch.

* * *

Link walked out of the city and looked across the field. It was mostly plain. Grass covered its expanse with a few stands of bushes spread out across it. One tree stood tall and alone off to the right and to the left Link could see the old hollow remains of what must have been a massive tree. Looking straight ahead, Link could see a path leading toward the swamp.

Something about this place seemed familiar to Link, though he couldn't put his finger on it. Something was pulling him, though he didn't know where. He could almost half remember something. He stared out toward the swamp and remembered getting hurt.

Digging down into his memory, he could just remember being stabbed through the shoulder by a Moblin's spear. He'd ignored the pain though, because he had to keep moving. He had to keep fighting, he had to keep protecting her. Link could remember that she'd fixed his shoulder later the same day, though he had no idea who _she _was.

It was strange, remembering someone you didn't remember…

Link headed away from the city and toward the valley mouth he could just make out past the tree. The woman at the inn, after revealing her name to be Anju, had told him to head that way and into the valley. He was supposed to go through there until he found a fork in the road. He would take a right there and keep going until he came to the ranch.

He ran these instructions through his mind over and over again as he marched across the field. However, another thought managed to take precedence over the directions.

There were no monsters in the field. None. No jelly masses or birds. No malicious creatures of any kind. The whole field was empty save for Link and the plants. It was eerie. Usually this place was crawling with monsters. Link wouldn't have been as disturbed if there were only a few out. Just one or two, but there were _none at all_.

Link crossed the field, looking around warily the whole way. His hands were always itching to reach for his sword and shield, his bow and arrow, a deku stick even! There _had_ to be something out here to fight and he had to be prepared for when he leapt out upon him.

Nothing ever did.

Link reached the valley mouth unheeded and walked inside. The warm yellow walls reached high up above him. The sky was just a slit.

While walking confusedly, Link had a sudden sense of déjà vu. He'd been here before, definitely. He hadn't been walking though. No, he'd been on a wagon with… with _her!_

Who was she?

Link could remember being on the wagon and he could remember the bow lying across his leg. He could remember the way the sun felt and he could remember the awful food he'd had for breakfast. However, Link couldn't remember a thing about her. Whenever he tried to turn his vision toward her, the memory faded and disappeared like smoke.

More eeriness.

Link passed the fork in the road and continued along. Finally he made his way to the dead end. It seemed there had been a collapse of some sort and the valley was blocked. Link looked up at it for a minute before turning around. This must be why there had been no deliveries.

He was prepared to return to Anju when a voice spoke out.

"Just wait a moment," an old sounding voice said, "I think I can help you get past."

"How could you…" Link said, beginning to turn around.

"No, don't look this way. Just wait a moment; I will clear the path, "said the suspicious voice. Link didn't trust this person. It was a feeling in his bones and his blood, like a memory he'd forgotten.

As if he needed more of those…

"Good, good. Just stay there for a moment. I'll take care of this."

There was a sound like crunching gravel and the man spoke again.

"All done, you can go on your way…"

Link turned around and saw that the blockage had been somehow cleared. He also saw that there was no old man.


	12. Blue Eyes

The canyon opened into a wide field of green. Rolling hills and individual trees were laid out in front of him. The air was fresh and familiar, and Link felt comfortable almost immediately.

He had been wondering about the mysterious man, but the topic dropped from his mind as he walked out across the sea of knee-high grass and stared around at the landscape.

Something about this place felt good, very good.

"Helloooo down there!" a voice called down to him. Link looked up toward the crest of the nearest hill and found himself staring at a silhouette.

"Umm, hi," Link responded, shielding his eyes with one upraised arm.

"Where did you come from?" the voice asked. As he grew nearer, Link could see that the shape was that of a little girl.

Link used his free arm to point vaguely behind him.

"That way. From, uh, clock town."

The girl was silent for a moment, before asking, "How did you get past the wall? Did you climb it? No, you're too little. Did you jump?"

Link was about to laugh at the ridiculous question, but one clear look at her face told him she was entirely serious.

"No, I…" he began.

"Oh of course you did! You're a grasshopper! You must be, with all of that green."

Link stared at her for a second, cocking his head. He was close enough to make her out clearly now. She had deep red hair that hung past her waist and she was wearing a white dress with a light blue design.

"Yeah… sure," Link said, holding back the laughter he expected to break through any moment, "Do you know where Cremia is?"

"Oh, you want big sister?" the girl asked, sounding a little disappointed, "She's that way, in the barn."

Link thanked the girl then ran off in the direction she'd pointed. He had to cross several hills before a pair of buildings came into sight. One had large double doors and Link assumed that this one was the barn.

Slipping inside, Link found himself watching a woman feed a flock of hungry chickens. She tossed down a handful just as he opened the door, and the birds swarmed around her legs.

"Hi, umm, are you Cremia?" Link asked.

The woman jumped as he spoke and turned around to face him quickly. She stared at him for a moment with a confused look on her face.

"What? Who? What are you doing here?" she asked suddenly.

"Anju sent me," Link explained, "She's worried because you haven't come to town for a while."

"Oh, it's… wait!" her eyes grew larger, "Are you saying that the canyon is clear?"

Link nodded and Cremia gasped.

"That's a… that's a miracle. Come with me, I'll give you a letter to take back to Anju."

Cremia tossed down one last handful of feed for the chickens before stowing the rest of it on a shelf. Brushing her hands off on her dress, Cremia pushed one of the big doors open with her elbow and led Link out of the barn.

The light outside was bright, but Link had no trouble seeing the observer as he followed Cremia to the house. She wasn't hiding behind anything, just standing a couple dozen feet away and staring. Link held her gaze for a moment and he could see her looking him up and down.

It was strange.

"Don't mind Romani," Cremia said with a smile, opening the door and heading inside. Link followed her in and up a set of stairs.

As they headed up, Link saw Cremia skip one of the steps. Link wondered why until he stepped there and the stairs groaned loudly. Something about that struck a chord in him. It was another of those forgotten memories.

He could remember walking up stairs like these, and hearing a groan like that. Link looked around at the house. There was nothing exceptional about it. Wooden walls, sparse furnishing, and minimal decoration. But still…

They reached the top of the stairs and Cremia headed for one of the rooms. There were three doorways, but the small glimpse Link got of the open door assured him that both Cremia and Romani slept in that same room.

Link looked at the other two doors and found himself staring at one of them especially. More forgotten memories. This place was full of them. Everything reminded him of something. Something important, but he couldn't figure out what. There was something utterly familiar about the stairs, and the wood of the walls, and that one specific door.

Suddenly Cremia stepped back out of the room with a colorless envelope in her hand.

"Here you go," she said, handing it to Link, "Could you take that back to Anju?"

"Sure," Link said, heading back down the stairs and out the door. The grass expanse opened up before him and Link began the trek across it. He slid the envelope into his backpack as he walked.

Link's footsteps fell silently and so did Romani's, that was why he didn't hear her approaching until she had appeared right next to him.

"I need your help," she said suddenly, sounding a little serious.

"What are you talking about?" Link asked, glancing toward the canyon mouth. He might be able to make it if he ran.

"I need you to help me fight _Them_," Romani said simply, "I can't do it alone."

Link stared at her, feeling very confused.

"What are you talking about?" he asked again, meaning it every bit as much, "Who are _Them_? Why do you need to fight them? Why do you need _my_ help?"

As Link stared at her, he found himself staring at her eyes. They were very big and _very _blue. Suddenly he had that feeling again. He could remember her eyes, for some reason.

For some reason, he knew he needed to help her. Whatever the cost.

Link nodded and said, "Never mind, I'll do it. When do you need me here?"

Romani smiled and said, "That's great! Come back here around midnight. They'll show up right when the bell starts to go off."

With that, Romani thanked him and ran back across the field toward the farm house.


	13. Everything in the World Exploding

Link walked across the field, listening to the steady clink of shield bouncing against scabbard. Even though he hadn't seen a single monster so far today, he couldn't help keeping an eye out for them. His hand was always ready to fly for the hilt sticking over his shoulder.

It didn't seem he'd get a chance to use it today. All he'd done so far was sleep and walk around. He sighed, thinking about how boring it had all been.

However, Link found himself getting stuck on one aspect of the day that hadn't been quite as dull as the rest. That girl on the ranch, the one called Romani, she had peaked his interest. She seemed strange, but in a good sort of way. Link couldn't help wondering why she'd been spying him, and what she'd meant by _Them_.

He also couldn't help thinking about the way her eyes had affected him. It was like staring through glass into another world. Another world inhabited solely by good things. Home, and family, and comfort, and security.

And love.

He'd looked into her eyes and somehow seen those things. Things he knew he'd never truly known before. It had been unsettling, and Link couldn't help thinking about her.

He thought about her all the way to Clock Town and even as he slipped into the crowd. Those eyes haunted him as Tatl led him back inn and he had to be drawn from his stupor to even open the door.

"What's with you?" the fairy demanded as they walked inside.

"I… I don't know," Link responded, "Something strange…"

"Something strange?" Tatl said dismissively, "Everything around here is strange."

And with that, the fairy was silent once more. Link headed up the stairs without a word and handed the letter over to Anju when he nearly ran into her.

She tucked the letter into a pocket in her dress and thanked Link excitedly before heading away. Link left and headed back out into the city. However, he found himself standing just a few feet beyond the door, wondering what to do next.

He asked Tatl and she suggested they try going to the sea. She said there might be something of interest in that direction.

With that decision made, Link headed out of the city and soon found himself crossing the field again. Strangely enough, there were _still_ no monsters.

Link kept looking around for them, though. He half hoped that he would find one hiding behind a tree or hidden inside a deep shadow. But no matter how much he searched, they were still alone.

Eventually they headed into a canyon. It was different than the one they'd gone in earlier. This canyon was very narrow, but Link could see the other side less than thirty feet away. Tatl had said that this was a shortcut to the sea, and that it was their only real choice since the normal way was blocked by a forest of tall, razor sharp fences.

Link gazed upward, worried that he couldn't see the sun. The sky was a little pink, and that meant the sun would probably set soon. He'd have to try and keep track of time once it got dark. He didn't want to be too late.

"Link, did you hear that?" Tatl asked suddenly.

"Wha…?" Link started to ask, but suddenly the ground began to shake. Link lost his balance and he fell to his hands and knees. The shaking threatened to throw him flat on his face, but it stopped before succeeding.

"Thank… goddesses… that's over," Link said, breathing heavily from the effort of trying to stay upright.

A crackling, crumbling sound came from above, and Link felt something strike him on the back of the head. He collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Link opened his eyes, but he couldn't see anything. Everything was black.

He sat up and moaned as an ache shot through his skull. Link moved slowly, touching the back of his head gingerly with one hand and looking around. He could almost see now, there was faint light filtering down from somewhere.

Something nagged at his mind, but he didn't know what it was. He needed to remember something, he needed to.

Link groaned and a ball of white light wormed its way out from beneath his hat and into the air. Tatl floated there, looking at him.

"Finally, you're awake"

"What time is it?" Link moaned.

"I don't know," the fairy said, "The moons out, but that's all I know."

A pounding noise filled the air, like the distant ringing of a large bell. It reverberated through the air and brought on another wave of pain inside Link's head.

However, he was too busy leaping to his feet. He had suddenly remembered. Without saying a word to Tatl, Link bolted away.

Link ran out of the canyon at a sprint and was amazed by what he saw. The air was full of creatures, all floating downward. Link could even see some on the ground.

They were moving toward the barn and the house.

Link kept going at a run, reaching into his backpack at the same time. It didn't take long for him to fish out the bow and to pull the quiver closer to the surface. Link nocked an arrow and, without stopping, loosed it on one of the nearby creatures.

It stopped for a moment as the arrow dug into its back, then disappeared in a burst of light.

Link kept running and he kept shooting arrows. The creatures didn't pay any attention to him, and he managed to carve a path through the army.

Before long he had reached the center of the attack, the barn. Link turned around and faced the tide of creatures. They were much taller than him, all wearing identical purple armor and sporting bulbous yellow eyes.

Link didn't even pause before taking aim. He fired as fast as he could, putting arrows in each of the closest creatures. They disappeared in turn, only to reveal the next layer.

He managed to keep them back for a while. Link was able to shoot each creature as it came over the crest of the nearest hill, but they just kept coming. He remembered the vast number of creatures he'd seen before, and Link didn't think he had enough arrows to fight off that many.

Even as he thought of this, Link heard a sound like splintering wood and shattering glass. It came from somewhere behind him, followed shortly by a soft scream.

Link took one last hurried glance at the slowly advancing army before turning around to run. He sprinted around the barn and quickly found what he'd feared. Something that had once been a window was destroyed, leaving a hole in the side of the building.

One look inside revealed the backs of three creatures. They were moving forward slowly, menacingly. In the spaces between them, Link could just make out the form of Romani, backing slowly away from them.

Link took a step back and leapt clear through the window. He landed on the other side and dropped to one knee. Raising his bow just as quickly as he could, Link fired three arrows.

Each of the creatures froze and burst in turn.

The unearthly light faded slowly from the room, leaving only the faint glow of a single lantern. Link could now see Romani clearly, and the cows beyond her.

"You came!" she exclaimed, a huge smile filling her face.

"Yeah," Link said, "but I don't…"

There was a sound like everything in the world exploding, and then the room was filled with blue light. Link looked up and was nearly blinded. It was like looking into the sun, if only the sun hovered three dozen feet above the ground.

Link heard Romani scream but at the same time he noticed something was wrong. It just felt wrong. He couldn't pinpoint the feeling, but it was there.

Link tried to take a step toward Romani, but his step pushed him off the ground. Link stared down at himself and the floor as he floated back down slowly.

Romani stared at him and darted away toward the cows.

Link started to look back at the blue thing, but he stopped himself. Link grabbed onto the first thing he could find, one of the handles built into the barn doors. He could feel everything changing as he clung on. The strange weightlessness was growing and Link could feel something pulling him upward.

Link looked over at Romani and saw her struggling to tie a rope over the cows. She had pulled it over them and was just managing to secure it. Pulling it tight, the girl looked up at Link with a terrified expression on her face.

Link wanted to say something, but there was a buzzing sound in the air and he knew he wouldn't be heard. The only thing he could hear beside the buzzing was his own heartbeat.

Suddenly the pulling increased drastically and Link's feet left the ground. He clung to the handle while Romani did her best to snake herself under the rope with the cows. However, she wasn't able to and just managed to hold onto it while her body dangled upside down in the air.

Link watched her for a moment and knew exactly what was about to happen. Romani's fingers slipped and suddenly she was hanging on by one hand. Her grip couldn't hold up against the pulling and Link could see that she was about to fall.

He heard a fraction of a scream over the buzzing noise and Romani lost her grip. She started to fall away toward the light, the fear in her eyes multiplying by the moment.

Link let go and dove after her.

He somehow managed to catch hold of both her hand and the edge of the loft. He hung there, fighting against the strange gravity. Link fought against it and pulled her farther away from the light. Romani managed to get ahold too and she started to pull herself up.

The pull was getting stronger and stronger by the moment. Looking upward, Link could see the cows being slowly lifted from the ground.

Romani managed to pull herself onto the underside of the loft and she started trying to pull Link up. After a minute of struggling, they were both on the loft and out of the way of the light. Link found he couldn't quite move as well upside down, but it was better than floating away.

"What do we do!?" Romani screamed.

Link looked around at the barn and saw pieces of it starting to shake and break. Bits of the floorboards were starting to pull away and the heaviest pieces of furniture were floating now.

"I… I don't… know," Link said finally. He was having trouble breathing. The pulling was starting to make movement very difficult. Link was almost pressed flat against the loft.

"Do… you… have…" Romani replied, gasping between words, "anything… in you… back… pack?"

Link ran through the contents of his pack quickly, wondering if any of them could truly help. Arrows probably wouldn't, even if he could hold the bow well enough to draw and aim. His sword? No. Deku nuts? No. Bombs?

Yes.

Link struggled to raise an arm to his back and he pulled out one of the fist sized bombs. He had a hard time holding his hand up long enough to jerk the ignition wire. The fuse burst into a fountain of sparks but sizzled out almost immediately.

He stared at it. They both stared at it, forlorn.

"I… I don't'…" Link gasped, staring at the bomb then up at Romani.

Suddenly the fuse burst back to life and Link wasted no time. He threw his body toward the edge, collapsed, and dropped the bomb.

The gravity was so great that Link couldn't move anymore, he couldn't breathe either. All he could do was watch the speck of black fly away into the center of the blue light.

An explosion wracked the night.

Without any warning, gravity righted itself and the two of them fell.

Link lay on the floor for a moment before struggling into a sitting position. He was still breathing heavily, but it was over. Romani was just a few feet away, leaning up against the wall.

They both sat still for a while, simply catching their breaths. Finally, they caught each other's eye and Romani smiled. It was infectious and Link found himself smiling too. Suddenly they were laughing, looking between each other and the gaping hole in the ceiling.

Link stopped suddenly and drew a deep yawn.

Romani stopped laughing then and rose slowly. She tottered over toward him on weak legs and dropped down beside Link.

"Thank... thank you," she said, "You saved me."

"It was," Link began.

"I'm really tired," Romani continued, "And you can… you can sleep here if you want. The roofs gone so Cremia will probably have other things on her mind."

She laughed weakly and Link did the same.

Moving quickly, Romani kissed Link before running out the door.

Link stared after her for a long time. Eventually Tatl flew in through the window and snapped Link out of his daze. Feeling exhausted, Link climbed into the loft.

Despite the missing roof, Link felt warm as he went to sleep.


End file.
